


That's Just How We Live

by BridgetMcKennitt



Category: Castle
Genre: Character of Color, Episode 3.6 coda, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-20
Updated: 2012-02-20
Packaged: 2017-10-31 12:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetMcKennitt/pseuds/BridgetMcKennitt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Esposito couldn't relax if Ryan couldn't relax.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That's Just How We Live

When Esposito said he was taking Ryan home, his tone brokered no discussion from Beckett or their captain. After the medics made sure Ryan was all right (despite Ryan's reassurances that he was), Esposito got his partner into his car and drove. 

There was a serial killer on the loose and Ryan had been _this_ close to getting killed. He had almost lost his partner and there wouldn't have been anything he could have done to save him. 

He glanced over at Ryan as they stopped at a red light. Ryan was pale though he kept a stoic front. As much as Esposito wanted to make a light hearted joke to ease the tension and to make Ryan smile, he couldn't. Not yet. Not when the adrenaline and the fear was still too close to the surface. 

They arrived at Esposito's place and Ryan didn't make a fuss when Esposito dragged him upstairs to his apartment. He sat him on the couch and went into the kitchen to grab them a couple of beers. 

As he handed Ryan a bottle, Esposito sat down next to him and took a long chug. "You okay, bro?" he asked. 

Ryan stared at the wrapper around the beer bottle and Esposito wondered if he should nudge Ryan before he finally spoke. "I'm good. We lost the guy tonight. He's out there doing who knows what." 

"For now, but we'll catch him. We know what he looks like and we have the best people on the case. Until then though, you're going to relax, drink some beer with me, and we'll play Madden. Who knows, maybe I'll even let you win." 

That drew a snort from Ryan which Esposito took as a good thing. He got off of the couch to set up the Xbox. 

When Esposito turned back to hand Ryan a controller, he saw his partner continuing to stare at the bottle. He looked closer and saw that the bottle had plenty of alcohol in it. That wasn't good. Ryan needed to unwind from his close encounter with death and Esposito couldn't relax if Ryan couldn't relax. 

"Bro, pull up your feet. This isn't some fancy hotel." He emphasized his point by smacking his hand on top of the coffee table. "And that's some quality beer I got for you. Don't you dare waste it by not drinking it." 

"Don't even lie, bro. You bought this cheap beer from the corner store." Ryan gave Esposito a weak grin and saluted him with the bottle before drinking deep. 

It wasn't much, but it was enough. Esposito handed him the controller and took one for himself before heading back to the couch. "My place, so I get dibs on the Giants." 

The Giants was a favorite team of both of them and they always fought over who got to play them. But not tonight. Tonight, Esposito was taking charge. If Ryan was focused on bickering with him, he wasn't going to be focusing on the Triple Killer. 

"There's no dibs. Why don't we flip a coin for it?" Ryan was reaching into his pocket, but Esposito shook his head and gave him a hard look. 

"Nope. It's already been called. Now pick a team and get ready to get your ass kicked." Esposito nudged shoulders with Ryan before starting the game. 

Somewhere between their third and fourth game, and a couple of beers, Esposito noticed Ryan was finally starting to unwind. Esposito paused the game before dropping his controller on the coffee table. "Castle's been telling me about this massage parlor he's been going to lately on a recommendation from his ex-wife. Best thing he's ever done for himself. We should look into that." 

Ryan chuckled and tossed his controller before picking up his beer. "On our salary? Like that's going to happen anytime soon." 

"So Castle will find a way to cut us a deal. He owes us for that thing a couple of weeks ago." 

"Oh yeah. Well, if Castle's willing to pick up the tab, I have no problem with this plan." Ryan stretched his arms over his head and sighed deeply. "Now that you've mentioned it, I want a massage now." 

"I doubt there's a place in New York that delivers massages." Esposito paused to snort. "Who aren't hookers anyway." 

Ryan tipped the beer bottle in Esposito's direction. "Hey, that's what partners are for. Don't think I don't know what you were doing this entire time. You're not exactly subtle when it comes to taking care of me. If Beckett and Castle didn't know about the two of us before tonight, they're aware of it now." 

_Like either of them are going to say anything_ , Esposito wanted to say, but he understood what Ryan was getting at. "Yeah, I was kind of forceful tonight, wasn't I?" 

"You wouldn't be Javier if you weren't." Ryan grinned and leaned towards him for a kiss. It was a light pressing of their lips before Ryan pulled away. "Now as I was saying, my feet aren't going to rub themselves so get on that." 

Esposito made a face, but slid off the couch to sit on the coffee table. He picked up Ryan's socked feet and dumped them on his lap. "You're just lucky I love you." 

Esposito wasn't a master of massages, but he could certainly fake it. He's done undercover work before and the dirt bags were none the wise that a cop moved among them. 

"Ow!" Ryan jerked his foot back. "You're supposed to love me, not hurt me." 

"It's not my fault you're a wimp. Toughen up, bro." When Ryan gave his foot back, Esposito eased back on the strength of his grip. 

They spent several minutes like that, Esposito rubbing Ryan's feet while tiny moans escaped from Ryan's lips. Esposito released Ryan's foot and patted his ankle. "All right, you're done." 

Ryan made a complaining noise, but slid his feet off of Esposito's lap. "That was awesome. I should make you rub my feet more often. Chasing down bad guys is hard on my feet, you know." 

"No way. The first one's free. You'll have to pay for the next one." 

As Esposito got up to grab more beers from the refrigerator, Ryan got off of the couch and began walking towards the bedroom. Esposito raised his eyebrow and called out his name. 

"Where do you think you're going?" 

"I'm getting ready for bed. I thought that would be obvious to a top notch detective." There was a glint in Ryan's eyes that Esposito approved of. "If you're lucky, you might even get a massage of your own. Three guesses on what part of your body it'll be on." 

Esposito ignored beer in favor of following Ryan into the bedroom. He had more pressing matters at hand. 


End file.
